Directory of statistical services of international organisations
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Brief
description of
the
organisation1
Mission2
Fields of
Activity/
structure
Statistics
Mandate
Statistical
work
1
2
ƒ The ICT Data and Statistics Division is under the Project Support and
Knowledge Management Department within the Telecommunication
Development Bureau of the ITU, which is located in Geneva, Switzerland.
ƒ ITU’s work on statistics originated in 1973, when member states attending the
World Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference in Geneva,
instructed the ITU to publish telecommunication statistics, and a “Yearbook of
Common Carrier Telecommunication Statistics”, in addition to several other
telephone and telegraph indicators. As a result, the first edition of the Yearbook
of Public Telecommunications Statistics (later called the Yearbook of Statistics)
was launched in 1974.
ƒ The overall mission of the Statistics Division is to identify and produce timely
and internationally comparable statistics on the telecommunication sector and
the Information Society. In this context, the division is responsible for the
effective collection, harmonization, analysis, interpretation, presentation and
dissemination of ICT statistics and publication of reports, in accordance with
the statistical standards established by the World Telecommunication/ICT
Indicators Meeting and the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development.
ƒ Data collection, harmonization, dissemination in the field of telecommunication
and ICT through annual questionnaires sent to national telecommunication/ICT
authorities and National Statistical Offices. Annual time series date back to
1960 and include more than 100 indicators and around 200 economies: the data
are maintained in the ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators (WTI)
database.
ƒ Data analysis and publication of global and regional research reports, including
the World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report (WTDR) and the
Measuring the Information Society (MIS) Report. Monitoring of the global
digital divide. Publication of annual Yearbook of Statistics.
ƒ Technical assistance to member countries in the field of telecommunication and
ICT statistics. Development of guidelines, methodological material (e.g. ITU
Manual on Measuring ICT Access and Use by Households and Individuals) and
tools related to statistical standards, data collection, storage and dissemination.
Organization of training courses, workshops and seminars on ICT measurement.
ƒ World Telecommunication Development Conference, Hyderabad, India, 2010,
Resolution 8
ƒ ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, Guadalajara, Mexico, 2010, Resolution 131
ƒ World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) (paragraphs 113-120 of the
Tunis Agenda).
ƒ Multiannual four-year programme, as decided by the ITU Plenipotentiary
Conferences, and the World Telecommunication Development Conferences.
Description of the statistics section/department in the organization
Mission of the statistics section/department of the organization
programme
Number of
staff
ƒ 7
Total / Statistical
division
Flagship
Publications
Website
ƒ Yearbook of Statistics
ƒ World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database
ƒ World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report
ƒ Measuring the Information Society Report
http://www.itu.int/ict
CCSA Contact:
Ms. Susan Teltscher
Head, ICT Data and Statistics Division
Telecommunication Development Bureau
International Telecommunication Union
Email: susan.teltscher@itu.int
Tel: +41 22 730 5937